Stars come out in finals

Schmidt stands out for Costa Mesa Middle School in National Scholastic Skateboarding League finals.

April 19, 2012|By Bruce Bourquin, Special to the Daily Pilot

Chavaria's best run was his first one. He jumped high off the side of one ramp, went cleanly down the big rail, was able to skid off his back wheels on a metal rim and he tried to land after flipping his board in the air but wasn't quite able to nail it 100 percent. But those earned two marks of 97 and another of 95 from the judges.

Kim showed his wicked skills in the second run. He spun off the ramp on a ramp directly in front of the judges, put together a 180-degree board spin, spun the board on top of another ramp and landed it, then he executed a "fakie," or rode a board backward for a couple seconds.

Villani put together another outstanding first run. The junior with the long hair threw together a 360-degree, clockwise spin with his board, then he put his feet on it a second before it stopped spinning. He landed a backside move off a medium-sized ramp.

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"I did all right," Villani said. "I tried a backside flip, where you flip your skateboard while turning 180 degrees. It was pretty fun."

Huntington Beach won a narrow team victory, 24-22, over Northwood High of Irvine. The Oilers won the street finals.

Dwyer Middle School finished second with 19 points in the team standings, with Costa Mesa finished third with 18 points.

"I think we did really well on street," Huntington Beach head coach Matt Reindold said. "They're a local crew, they've been here in Orange about three to four times per week. It was a very high level of competition, we thought going in that it was going to be up in the air."

Boan appeared to put together his best combinations of moves in the second run. He caught some impressive air off the big ramp. He threw down a front side indie grab, where the board is grabbed with the rear hand on the toeside rail of the board while rotating in a backside direction.

Boan also put down a "backside disaster," where a skateboarder pops the skateboard into the air, turns 180 degrees and lands in the center of his board with the front trucks facing toward the ramp and the back trucks over the lip. The skater then leans forward to return back in the ramp. He also put together a fingerflip, where a skater flips the board with his or her hand.

Kouhei Kito of Dwyer Middle School also showed some versatility, finishing third in the street finals with 269 points and eighth with 232 points in the bowl finals.